Tithe

[Bryan Lim]

Hi guys. I need your opinion here. I have a question about tithes. I am a student and I have 500bucks to spend each month. 130bucks are for the house rental, the rest is for my pocket money like food, stationary blah blah blah. I know you are supposed to give 10% of your income to the church. That means 50 bucks each time I tithe. Problem is, my parents does not know that I am a Christian and I am supposed to tithe. I am sure that they will not like the idea of me giving away their hard-earned money to the church. I want to tithe like any other normal Christian would but if i give away 10% then I have to ask my parents for money more often and I am sure they will ask why is my money going away so fast. They would be furious if they know. *sigh*I am wondering about your opinion on this.

 

[rogsr]

Hello,
It sounds like your heart is in the right place. However, you must also use your mind. Can you make changes to your budget to make room for the $50? I'll bet you $50 that you can . You would need to set aside around $12.50 per week for tithing. Do you think that you could manage that? If not, then maybe you could figure out how much you would be able to give, and then make room for that in your budget. In the episcopal church we are taught that we tithe our time, talent, and treasure. It's not all about the money, and maybe you could make up for not tithing your full 10% by tithing some of your time or talent to your church. It is very important that you tithe, because your church is a non-profit organization, and it runs off of the donations made by its parishoners. Also, God wants you to tithe 10% of your earnings. He wants you to do this not because He needs money, but rather, to keep you unattached from your money. You will be far less likely to become a greedy person if you always make an effort to tithe. That is a very important lesson to learn in this process. I hope that this helped.

 

[Bryan Lim]

I don't understand what u said. Isn't tithing about giving 10% every week (Sunday)? Let me illustrate. On 1 June, I get 500bucks from my parents. I take out 50bucks for my pocket money. So, 450bucks left. On Sunday (6 June), I take out 10% (10% of 500bucks= 50bucks). On 7 June, I take out 50bucks some more. Left 350bucks (450-50 for the previous tithe-50bucks on 7 June=350bucks). Then, the following Sunday, I take out 50bucks for tithe some more and this goes on. Doesn't it work this way?
OR is it the way rogsr said it. 50bucks distributed over 4 weeks and hence 12.50bucks every Sunday?
Which one? Help!

 

[Serapha]

Hi guys. I need your opinion here. I have a question about tithes. I am a student and I have 500bucks to spend each month. 130bucks are for the house rental, the rest is for my pocket money like food, stationary blah blah blah. I know you are supposed to give 10% of your income to the church. That means 50 bucks each time I tithe. Problem is, my parents does not know that I am a Christian and I am supposed to tithe. I am sure that they will not like the idea of me giving away their hard-earned money to the church. I want to tithe like any other normal Christian would but if i give away 10% then I have to ask my parents for money more often and I am sure they will ask why is my money going away so fast. They would be furious if they know. *sigh*I am wondering about your opinion on this.

Hi there!





I firmly believe that if you tithe your money, and ask God to provide for your needs, that He will. God is faithful. Take your concern up with God in sincere prayer and see where God leads you.


I get tickled with the creative telephone calls I receive from college students....


When they say, "I'm fasting"

When they say, "I'm calling you on the cell phone that you pay for to tell you that I am sitting on the side of the road and my car is broke down"

When they say, "If you know of anyone who is in need of a blessing, tell them that I'm available for financial assistance and God will surely bless them"

When they say, "I know I am not supposed to ask for money, and I'm not, but will you pray for a miracle in my checking account?"

My friend, where God guides, God provides... step out in faith... and hold to these words from God.


Ps 37:25 I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.

~serapha~

 

[muffler dragon]

Hi guys. I need your opinion here. I have a question about tithes. I am a student and I have 500bucks to spend each month. 130bucks are for the house rental, the rest is for my pocket money like food, stationary blah blah blah. I know you are supposed to give 10% of your income to the church. That means 50 bucks each time I tithe. Problem is, my parents does not know that I am a Christian and I am supposed to tithe. I am sure that they will not like the idea of me giving away their hard-earned money to the church. I want to tithe like any other normal Christian would but if i give away 10% then I have to ask my parents for money more often and I am sure they will ask why is my money going away so fast. They would be furious if they know. *sigh*I am wondering about your opinion on this.

Dear Bryan:

If you'd like a little bit of a deeper analysis of the tithe, please feel free to check out my posts on the following thread:

http://www.christianforums.com/t693087

Hopefully this will shed some fruitful light for you.

m.d.

 

[ianridpath]

I personally believe you should tell your parents!
As a christian you shouldnt be ashamed of the gospel!
Tell them, show them your true faith, you may find they have a different opinion to what u believe!
God tells us to witness, and to have his light shine through you, if you hold it back from your parents, your hiding his light!
As the 'funky version' of the song goes...
"This lil light of mine...ooooo....im gonna let it shine...ooo yeeeehhh" etc etc...!!!

 

[Bryan Lim]

thanks for all of your input but can somebody answer my second post in this thread ASAP? thanks again.

 

[ianridpath]

10% of all your earnings!
Earn £10 a day, thats a £1 a day
Earn £100 a week, thats £10 a week
Earn £400 a month, thats £40 a month

10% of what u earn!
"Give, and it will come back to you...!"

 

[Bryan Lim]

You said 'earn 400bucks a month, then it is 40bucks a month'. So, is that 40 bucks a month distributed over four Sundays (10bucks for each Sunday)?
I am a newbie in Christ. So, I am really blur about this.

 

[Serapha]

I don't understand what u said. Isn't tithing about giving 10% every week (Sunday)? Let me illustrate. On 1 June, I get 500bucks from my parents. I take out 50bucks for my pocket money. So, 450bucks left. On Sunday (6 June), I take out 10% (10% of 500bucks= 50bucks). On 7 June, I take out 50bucks some more. Left 350bucks (450-50 for the previous tithe-50bucks on 7 June=350bucks). Then, the following Sunday, I take out 50bucks for tithe some more and this goes on. Doesn't it work this way?
OR is it the way rogsr said it. 50bucks distributed over 4 weeks and hence 12.50bucks every Sunday?
Which one? Help!

Hi there!



It's between you and God. Normally the 10 percent is of the total amount... if it is $500, then 10% is $50 for the total tithe from that amount of "income".


Again, though, it is between you and God on what to give on a regular basis. ... but you don't pay tithe again and again on the same monies.


~serapha~

 

[ianridpath]

Also dont consider it as 10 over each sunday...
Its 40 to god!
However that is given, is your choice, but dont see it as a sunday giving, see it as your offering to god.
Newbie in Christ....! I love that whole newbie biz!!

 

[Bryan Lim]

So, that means 12.50bucks over four SUndays? or 50bucks over four SUndays? sorry if i sound like a moron.

 

[mister_p]

My wife gets paid fortnightly. We tithe once every four weeks. We only put that tithe in once every four weeks, we don't split it up or anything like that. For 3 weeks we let it go by then on week 4 in it goes... Our pastor knows that is how we do it. I don't care what anyone else thinks, only God.

A little bit of a testimony:

We both worked until July last year. I quit to go to Bible college f/t. 50% of our wages gone. I got a bit of super and holiday pay. All tithed at once. Now, nearly 12 months later, our financial situation has not suffered. Sure we have made spending adjustments and so on, but we are not going backwards as we thought we would.

How? God. Mas to be.

Be encouraged.

 

[seebs]

"Any other normal Christian" may well not "tithe" at all. The idea of a specific hard and fast number for how much to give stopped applying to us when we stopped having Levites to guard the temple in which we sacrificed animals to pay for our sins. Furthermore, the amount given to the priests was not 10%.

The idea that you must tithe a certain amount to be a good Christian is legalism pure and simple, and should be avoided. If you have money that you can afford to give, go ahead and give it. If a charity calls to you more than a given church does, give to the charity. Don't sweat it. There is no hard and fast requirement here; we're Christians, not Jews, and we don't have the elaborate structure of precise laws. Worry about whether or not you are a generous and charitable person. There is more charity, and more of God's will, in taking a hungry friend out to dinner when he's having a rough month and having trouble making ends meet, than in grudgingly giving exactly $50.00 to a church because someone told you Christians tithe 10% of their money.

In practice, churches where the faithful are expected to give 10% have a very high incidence of pastors who have multiple cars, because really, it isn't that expensive to run a church.

 

[Bryan Lim]

From the responses given, it seems to me that Christians do not follow the 10% tithe every Sunday. I was expecting a straight forward answer to my question in post 2 in this thread but I get mixed opinions. I am getting more and more confused by the minute. Once again, don't get fed up of me or anything. I really need answers, that's all.

 

[seebs]

From the responses given, it seems to me that Christians do not follow the 10% tithe every Sunday. I was expecting a straight forward answer to my question in post 2 in this thread but I get mixed opinions. I am getting more and more confused by the minute. Once again, don't get fed up of me or anything. I really need answers, that's all.

No problem at all. What you're seeing here is that this is not a teaching of "Christianity", but of specific churches, which don't all agree. I was raised Lutheran, where my parents, who gave about 3% of their income in a single check once a year, were on the high end of the donation spectrum. Currently, I'm a very underemployed Quaker, and I'm not giving anything to my church. On the other hand, one of the reasons I have no money is that I'm always helping friends out, and I'm giving away a lot of money that I'm getting from suing junk faxers because I don't particularly feel comfortable keeping it. Am I "tithing"? No. Is more than 10% of my income going to things other than my own personal wealth? You betcha.

This is something where you should look at what your church teaches, and also at what you feel called to. Not everyone gets the same answers on questions like this. Don't try to find the answer that will make you fit in with other Christians; try to find the answer that will bring you closer to God.

 

[Bryan Lim]

I am not trying to find the answer that will make me fit in with other Christians, I am just trying to find out how am I supposed to follow the 10% tithe rule. All I want right now is to satisfy God and not make Him angry (by robbing Him of His money, I guess. I don't want Him to turn me into a frog or something for not paying tithe). My 10% of my income is 50bucks. If I am supposed to give 50 bucks every Sunday, then I am in trouble. If I am supposed to spread that 50 bucks over four Sundays, then I can manage. Problem is, after posting my question, I get a variety of answers till I am not sure which to follow. Some pay tithe every month, some don't at all.
Seebs, you said tithing is not a teaching of Christianity, but if I am not mistaken, it is written somewhere in the Bible. Can u clarify on this?

 

[seebs]

There is no 10% tithe rule in Christianity. Some churches have one, for reasons of their own. Christianity itself does not have such a rule, nor is there one in the Bible. There is a similar rule, back in the Old Testament, governing the practices of the Jews. We do not generally follow Jewish law. However, if you wanted to follow it, the principle would be to take 10% of your profit (not your gross income, but net income) every year. Two years, you spend it on whatever will make you happy and celebrate God; one year, you bring it to the Levite priests. That's what the Bible actually says on the topic. Everything else is people making stuff up.

God won't get mad at you for not handing money over to some guy in a suit. This is Christianity, not the Mafia. If you feel called to give (and most people do), give as you are called, not according to some formula. Christianity is not about rigid formulas for avoiding angering God.

 

[Bryan Lim]

'This is Christianity, not the Mafia'
lol, seebs. you made my day by making me laugh hard.
anyway, thanks for your input. vey much appreciated.

 

[Serapha]

'This is Christianity, not the Mafia'
lol, seebs. you made my day by making me laugh hard.
anyway, thanks for your input. vey much appreciated.

My friend,

Ultimately, it is between you and God... if it is God whom you want to please, then take the concerns to God and pray about it unti you get an answer.


Ten percent is the "standard" from Old Testament teachings, but it is not the "rule" from New Testament teachings.


~serapha~